230 WALKS ABOUT TALLAHASSEE. 



any birds, but for a half hour of pleasant 

 human intercourse. I went out of the city 

 by an untried road, hoping to find some 

 trace of migrating birds, especially of cer- 

 tain warblers, the prospect of whose ac- 

 quaintance was one of the lesser considera- 

 tions which had brought me so far from 

 home. No such trace appeared, however, 

 nor, in my fortnight's stay in Tallahassee, in 

 almost the height of the migratory season, 

 did I, so far as I could tell, see a single 

 passenger bird of any sort. Some species 

 arrived from the South cuckoos and ori- 

 oles, for example; others, no doubt, took 

 their departure for the North ; but to the 

 best of my knowledge not one passed 

 through. It was a strange contrast to what 

 is witnessed everywhere in New England. 

 By some other route swarms of birds must 

 at that moment have been entering the 

 United States from Mexico and beyond; 

 but unless my observation was at fault, 

 and I am assured that sharper eyes than 

 mine have had a similar experience, their 

 line of march did not bring them into the 

 Florida hill-country. My morning's road 

 not only showed me no birds, but led me 



